Position of women in the Rig Vedic society
Political
rights of women:
In ancient India, the women enjoyed equal status with men in all fields of life. In the Vedic society women participated in
religious ceremonies and tribal assemblies (sabha and vidata). Works by ancient Indian grammarians such as Patanjali and Katyayana suggest that women were educated in the early Vedic period.
There
are literary evidences to suggest that woman power destroyed kingdoms and
mighty rulers. The Madurai, the
capital of Pandyas was burnt when Pandyan ruler Nedunchezhiyan killed a woman's
husband by mistake. Mahabharata of Veda Vyasa tells the story of fall of Kauravas because they humiliated queen Draupadi. Ramayana of Valmiki is also
about the wiping away of Ravana when
he abducted and tried to marry Sita
forcibly.
Social
rights of women:
Women had freedom to choose their own husbands through a
type of marriage called Swayamvara.
In this type of marriage, potential grooms assembled at the bride's house and
the bride selected her spouse. Child marriage was unheard of and many women were also
famous sages like Gargi, Maitreyi, etc. Widows could remarry.
They could leave their husbands. The system of Sati existed among the Aryans in
the earlier period .By the time they entered India it had however gone out of
vogue but it might have survived in the shape of a formal custom. Monogamy was
very common. Polygamy though common was not common.
Decline in political right:
As the time
passed, the position of women underwent changes in all spheres of life. In the
later Vedic period, women lost their political rights of attending assemblies. During
the period of smritis women were
bracketed with the sudras and were denied the right to study the Vedas to utter
Vedic mantras and to perform Vedic rites.
Decline in social right:
Child
marriages also came into existence. According to the Aitareya Brahmana a daughter has been described as a source of
misery. The Atharva Veda also
deplores the birth of daughters. The position of women gradually deteriorated
as the golden Vedic ideals of unity and equality began to fade off through the
passage of time. Marriage or domestic life became compulsory for women and
unquestioning devotion to husband their only duty.
Position during Maurya:
In Mauryan
period, brahamanical literature have
assigned to women very low status in the society. Buddhist texts on the other
hand were much more considerate in treating them. Megasthenes testifies to the
growing practice of polygamy; employment of women as palace guards, bodyguards
to the kings, spies etc; permission of widow remarriage and divorce. Thus the
position of women though inferior was not as bad as it came to be in the later
periods such as the Gupta period.